Wisconsin Soccer Central

Seeding meetings across the state wrapped up on Wednesday, and the WIAA released the brackets for its 33rd annual boys soccer tournament later that evening.

There are 262 teams in the field for the second WIAA to feature four divisions – Divisions 1 and 2 include 64 teams, while divisions 3 and 4 each have 67 sides.

Play starts Saturday with six regional quarterfinals, and the vast majority of teams will open the postseason Tuesday in regional semifinals. Regional finals are Oct. 16, with sectionals Oct. 23 and 25. The state tournament is set for Oct. 31 to Nov. 1 at Time Warner Cable Stadium at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee.

Games will continue to be 90 minutes, as they have been throughout the regular season under an experimental rule being used by the WIAA this year, but the start of the playoffs also means the return of overtime.

And it's the "extra time" form of overtime: If a match is tied after regulation, teams will play two full 10-minute overtimes, regardless of scoring. If the score remains tied after extra time, penalty kicks will follow to determine which team advances.

One of the more interesting brackets should be the Division 1 Kettle Moraine sectional. Verona is ranked fourth in the latest Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association state poll, but is the No. 4 seed in the loaded bracket – Beloit Memorial, which has been receiving honorable mention in the poll, is the No. 6 seed.

Full brackets

• Riley Neri scored four goals as Lakeland routed Antigo 10-0 last Thursday to earn a share of their first Great Northern Conference championship. The Thunderbirds and Rhinelander both finished 8-1-1 in league play.
• Senior Ryan Henry snapped a tie in the 47th minute and Madison Memorial held off Verona 2-1 on Tuesday night to wrap up its 12th Big Eight Conference title – and second in a row. The Spartans are unbeaten in their past 18 league matches (16-0-2).
• Joey Schauer had six goals as Whitnall earned a wild Woodland Conference win last Wednesday, outlasting Brown Deer 7-6.
• Milwaukee Marquette won all three of its matches at the Gateway City Classic last weekend in the St. Louis area, beating Lexington Dunbar (Ky.) 3-0, Lee's Summit West (Mo.) 3-1 and Evansville Reitz Memorial (Ind.) 5-0. Beloit Memorial won its first two games in its debut at the event, blanking Springfield Catholic (Mo.) 3-0 and edging Morton (Ill.) 2-1, before falling to Nequa Valley (Ill.) 5-0 in the Group D final.
• Marquette, which plays host to Chicago St. Ignatius and Detroit Jesuit this weekend at Quad Park, moved up 13 spots to No. 24 in the Top Drawer Soccer Fab 50 and rose two places to fourth in the website's Great Lakes Region rankings.
• The Hilltoppers, though, fell four spots to 24th in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Top 25. Marquette stayed put at No. 3 in the Region VI rankings, which also include No. 8 Madison West, No. 9 Whitefish Bay, No. 11 Brookfield East and No. 14 Oregon.